Guitars, banjos and mandolin exclusively create the song arrangements on this release. Twelve songs played across a stripped down production, that highlights the fine playing and singing of both musicians.
This duo has been two short years in existence. This is their first release, although both musicians come from backgrounds that included various band and solo incarnations, in addition to playing together as part of the bluegrass band Front Country.
Produced by Laurie Lewis, country and bluegrass fuse together in a potent mix of harmony vocals and sensitive playing. Black Grace is a song that has won Melody Walker recognition and a first place in gospel song-writing circles. “Heaven is right here, if you’re doin’ it right” reflects the lyric and this could be taken as a guide for the confused and vulnerable in search of the celestial map.
We are given fine cover versions of Paul Simon’s Graceland and Peter Rowan’s Mississippi Moon and Melody writes a further six songs, including the excellent O Heartbreaker which is a plea to love ourselves first before we can hope to find the love of another.
Billy the Chimp is a true story about a circus boxing performer who ‘never moved back to Africa’ while Yellow Haired Girl, to quote the liner notes, is a meditation on the simultaneous worship and exploitation of pretty women around the world; an arresting song with body and hand percussion used to great effect.
This is a fine collection of songs and recommended to lovers of acoustic collaboration.